"You champion human rights across the globe, yet you sometimes stumble over the very principles you defend."- Read Nahar Trina's letter to America. shuddhashar.com/from-the-gir...

The world feels chaotic, and America sits at the center. One year into Trump’s administration, the questions feel heavier and the consequences more real. Shuddhashar FreeVoice is reopening Letters to America to capture those voices that refuse to be silent. 📩 Send your pitch to [email protected]

The scale of unprincipled and unashamed conduct among contemporary American Republicans has reached an unprecedented and largely previously unimaginable level. Jack David Eller observes in his latest letter to America. shuddhashar.com/unprincipled...

People in Iran are rising up again, demanding change amidst an escalating economic crisis. Revisit Noora Shamsi Bahar's essay, which offers an intimate portrayal of the hardships Iran's minorities have endured through generations. shuddhashar.com/a-connection...

The age-old debate about whether the United States is a republic or a democracy has gained new vigour under Trump’s presidency. Revisit Jack David Eller's essay to better understand America's unique political lineage. shuddhashar.com/america-repu...

Happy New Year 2026 🎉

VOTE/SHARE/WIN! Share your favourite Shuddhashar FreeVoice publications of 2025, and as a small gesture of gratitude, we will randomly select three survey participants to each receive a $50 prize! docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLS....

Gi bøker i jule- og nyttårsgave! Send e-post til denne adressen for å bestille disse to bøkene. [email protected] #Norway #norwegianpublication

Protecting the Bauls means reaffirming the monotheistic conviction that no single clerical authority, political power, or militant faction can embody the oneness of the divine. Read Siddhartha Dhar's take on the recent eruption of violence against Bangladeshi Bauls. shuddhashar.com/monotheism-c...

Shuddhashar demands that Baul Abul Sarkar be released immediately. Blasphemy laws must be repealed. And political parties—and society at large—must commit to building a tolerant Bangladesh where all people can live safely.

In this Shuddhashar Free-thought podcast, we share Flash Interviews with two award-winning writers: Camelia Dewan and Taran Khan. Camelia Dewan is an environmental anthropologist, and Taran Khan is a journalist and award-winning nonfiction writer. shuddhashar.com/flash-interv...

Music itself is a journey — one that carries uprooted Afghan musicians like Ghawgha through unexpected paths and turns. Read her story in our latest issue. shuddhashar.com/the-songs-of...

Intergenerational listening is developed as a practice of rerouting in exile. It’s how families and communities build a sense of continuity when geography has been broken. Mejgan Massoumi shares her Afghan experience in our latest issue. shuddhashar.com/sonic-tapest...

Being far from home has taught Afghans that they can preserve their stories and culture through social media. Heela Kakar shares her story in our latest issue. shuddhashar.com/at-home-on-t...

In a passionate plea, award-winning filmmaker and photographer Mohammad Ali Sheida makes the case for why Afghanistan doesn’t need visitors who come solely for spectacle, why it needs allies, why it doesn’t need filtered reels or applause, and why it needs memory. shuddhashar.com/afghanistan-...

In exile, living can feel like an unreal existence, where simple things – like writing – can seem out of reach. Neelufer Suhrabie relates her experience in our latest issue. shuddhashar.com/pinocchio-in...

The music they grew up with remains the magic tie that binds exiled Afghans to their native land. Siddiq Barmak reminisces about the music he grew up with in our latest issue. shuddhashar.com/me-and-music/

The music they grew up with remains the magic tie that binds exiled Afghans to their native land. Siddiq Barmak reminisces about the music he grew up with in our latest issue. shuddhashar.com/me-and-music/

Read Laila Ghezal Azimi's essay to learn how, through tea, language, songs, and everyday work, Afghan women resist invisibility in exile. shuddhashar.com/delhi-kitche...

 Our latest issue features a collective piece produced as part of Paranda, a writer development programme and global network of women writers in Afghanistan and the diaspora, facilitated by Untold Narratives and supported by KfW Stiftung.  shuddhashar.com/stealing-fir...

This *Letter to America* calls for a redefinition of what it means to be “exceptional.” Not the arrogance of power, but the humility of connection. Not the isolation of privilege, but the courage to see one’s fate and circumstances as intertwined with others. shuddhashar.com/free-speech-...

Moshtari Hilal is an Afghan visual artist, writer, and curator based in Hamburg and Berlin. Our latest issue features an excerpt from her work "Ugliness", translated by Elisabeth Lauffer, recipient of the 2014 Gutekunst Translation Prize. shuddhashar.com/cartography-...

The true meaning of being “exceptional” means "to rise above self-absorption, to recognise the plight of others, and to weave your struggles together with theirs into a shared fabric of resistance". Siddhartha Dhar writes in his Letter to America. shuddhashar.com/free-speech-...

A resilient and determined group of exiled Afghan filmmakers are finding its voice once again. Ghafar Azad, an Afghan filmmaker, chronicles their journey. shuddhashar.com/family-album/

"Each work in this issue can be read as a contrapuntal expression of creative resistance. Together, they form a map of our collective tellable histories..." — read our guest editor Taran Khan's reflection on our latest issue. shuddhashar.com/preface-by-g...

"Would I allow myself to be exceptionally ugly?" asks Moshtari Hilal in her intimate and political book UGLINESS, excerpted @shuddhashar.bsky.social. Girlhood author @melissafebos.bsky.social calls UGLINESS, translated by Elisabeth Lauffer, "wondrous and important." shuddhashar.com/cartography-...

In their displacement, Afghans preserve fragments of memory, culture, and belonging, transforming exile into both a form of survival and a burden. Our latest issue centers on Afghan experiences of exile. Read the editorial from our latest issue, "Afghans on Exile “. shuddhashar.com/editorial-4/

Guest-edited by Taran Khan, our latest issue, "Afghans on Exile", is out now, featuring a host of Afghan voices, from musicians to filmmakers, from photographers to artists. Find the whole issue here: shuddhashar.com/magazine/iss...

We are delighted to announce that Shudddhashar FreeVoice magazine's Issue 44, "Afghans on Exile", will be available on our website from November 1, 2025. We invite you to celebrate with us and support the resistance movement mounted by Afghans in exile through their creative works.

American Presidents have often been inspiring orators, with many seeking to bring moral clarity and unity. “King Trump”, however, has taken a different approach. Read Andrew Fiala’s “Letter to America.” shuddhashar.com/moronificati...

The ‘optics of absence’ of deserving recipients from the global south is not a ledger of past mistakes; rather, a map of risks the Nobel Peace Prize runs when it defines what counts as peace. Niladri Chatterjee explores the politics surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize. shuddhashar.com/canon-contes...

Fresh from the press! I am delighted to share with you my latest article on the recent #NobelPeacePrize controversy from a historical and decolonial perspective. Thanks to Ahmedur Tutul Chowdhury for inviting me to write this for Shuddhashar FreeVoice. Have a read! 🤩 shuddhashar.com/canon-contes...

On International Blasphemy Rights Day, Shuddhashar FreeVoice invites everyone to read our Blasphemy issue. #blasphemy #FREEBATY #internationalblasphemyrights [https://shuddhashar.com/magazine/issue-19-blasphemy/]

Originally conceived in Hebrew and Greek traditions, blasphemy has morphed in the present day into a battle in which anyone can use it against anyone to silence and dominate them. On International Blasphemy Rights Day, read Jack David Eller's newest essay. shuddhashar.com/blasphemy-2-0/

“Promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.” #bookreadin #thepenismightierthanthesword #ToInspireNotToImpress

In this Shuddhashar Free-thought podcast, Ella Harris Perin, Shuddhashar FreeVoice’s Oslo Scholars Intern, conducts Flash Interviews with three esteemed writers: Kaniqua Robinson, Karthick Ram Manoharan, and Kylie Fisher.  shuddhashar.com/flash-interv...

Adler Dills is a designer, media director, and interdisciplinary creative artist, and a recipient of the Ellen Braaten Media award. He contributed a short story to our latest issue. Listen to him speaking about how to harness the energy of youth and organise. shuddhashar.com/7-above/

Congratulations to our contributor Camelia Dewan on being awarded at the 2025 ACLS Open Access Book Prizes and Arcadia Open Access Publishing Awards. Her book won in the category of Environmental Humanities. She wrote an essay for us based on her book. Find it below. shuddhashar.com/misreading-c...

Charlie Kirk’s death proves that the price is only tolerable when the gun death is one of them (Democrats/liberals), not one of us (Republicans/conservatives). Jack David Eller writes in his latest letter to America. shuddhashar.com/one-of-us/

Disappointment in two articles of American faith — capitalism and democracy — is shaping contemporary American and global politics. Jack David Eller writes in his latest letter to America. shuddhashar.com/the-new-grea...

Women must not harbor any illusions that powerful megalomaniacs will keep them safe in their world. Camille Kaminski Lewis issues a warning in her letter to America. shuddhashar.com/remember-ber...

What can young Americans learn from Afghanistan’s fight for education and equality? Friba Rezayee—activist, Olympian, and advocate—calls on U.S. youth to use their voices, defend democracy, and never take their rights for granted. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OwZ...

In our special webinar, “Connected Struggles: Social Media and Youth Movements from Afghanistan to Cambodia,” youth activists Samady Ou and Friba Rezayee engage in a vital conversation with us about the challenges and possibilities of activism today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBVb...

Trump may keep some Iranians and Middle Easterners aligned with his imperialistic agenda. But his deceitful and neoliberal policies have inevitably created a powerful opposing force grounded in humanist values. Mehdi Davari-Torshizi explains in his letter to America. shuddhashar.com/make-imperia...

Marieme Helie Lucas, a renowned Algerian feminist and sociologist, opposes secularism and is pessimistic about the state of feminism and progressiveness. Find out why in this Shuddhashar interview. shuddhashar.com/interview-ma...

Located in Urubamba, Peru, Valley Camp is a nonprofit organisation that empowers local and international youth. In an interview for Shuddhashar, Ella Harris Perin seeks to understand how the camp’s goals centre on youth engagement. shuddhashar.com/placemaking-...

Kara Alford urges us to refuse to be a stepping stone on the path to an unjust future and use our voice to advocate for what we believe. shuddhashar.com/learning-to-...

Shreeti Shubham shows how moral policing functions as a powerful form of social surveillance, reinforcing the patriarchal & casteist order. shuddhashar.com/the-politics...

Alexandra Aradas, an undergraduate student raised in the American South, uses photography to understand and capture the diverse Queer experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community in her region. These are a few selections from a larger series entitled The Art of Recognition. shuddhashar.com/the-art-of-r...

As a U.S. college student in the 1960s, Eva Jefferson Paterson found her place in the world of activism and spent her life prioritizing social justice, across decades and various avenues. Eva shares her reflections on a life of resistance and creation. shuddhashar.com/reflections-...